Trigger warning - this chapter contains dark content .

"You nearly got yourself killed, you foolish girl !" he thundered, his voice booming with anger as he loomed over the timid scared girl.

As Piya stood frozen in the middle of the road, her heart racing with fear, she couldn't help but notice the striking figure that loomed over her. The man who emerged from the black Range Rover was a vision of rugged masculinity, standing tall at 6'4 feet with broad shoulders and a commanding presence that demanded attention.

His chiseled jawline was shadowed by a day's worth of stubble, adding to his air of rugged allure. Piercing eyes, the color of molten steel, glinted with intensity beneath dark brows furrowed in anger. His lips, pressed into a firm line, hinted at a strength of character that both intimidated and intrigued Piya.

But it was his tousled black hair, swept back from his forehead in disarray, that drew her gaze the most. A few strands fell across his forehead, adding a hint of boyish charm to his otherwise brooding demeanor.

As he towered over her, his muscular frame outlined by the snug fit of his black t-shirt, Piya found herself mesmerized by his raw magnetism. Despite the anger that simmered beneath the surface, there was an undeniable magnetism about him that drew her in, leaving her momentarily breathless.

Lost in the intensity of his gaze, Piya felt a strange fluttering in her chest, her cheeks flushing with an unexpected warmth. It was as if time had stood still, and in that moment, there was only her and the mysterious angry stranger who had nearly collided with her on the busy street.

But as quickly as her dreamy romantic Bollywood moment had begun, it was shattered by the man's harsh words, bringing Piya back to reality with a jolt. With a trembling breath, she tore her gaze away from his captivating stare, her heart still pounding with the lingering effects of his presence.

Feeling a knot form in her stomach, Piya couldn't shake off the sting of his words. "Foolish girl," she repeated silently to herself, the weight of his accusation hanging heavy in the air. She felt a mixture of hurt and frustration, unsure of how to respond to his harsh criticism.

Despite the intensity of his gaze, Piya forced herself to look away, her eyes tracing the cracks in the pavement as she tried to steady her racing heart. She couldn't bear to meet his eyes again, afraid of what she might find in their depths.

With a shaky breath, Piya took a step back, her hands trembling at her sides. She felt exposed under his scrutiny, vulnerable and exposed in the harsh light of day. And though she longed to run far away from him, she couldn't bring herself to move, rooted to the spot by the weight of his disapproving gaze.

Awkwardly, she glanced around, her eyes darting from one side to the other, unsure of what to do. Suddenly, she felt a tug on her hand, and she looked up to see the man's strong fingers wrapping around hers, pulling her gently but firmly towards him.

“Sorry, sorry," Piya muttered nervously, her voice barely audible above the noise of the street. She kept repeating the word, her apologies coming in rapid succession, as if she couldn't stop herself.

The man's brow furrowed in irritation, his patience wearing thin with each passing moment. "Enough with the apologies," he grumbled, his voice tinged with annoyance.

But Piya couldn't seem to help herself, her nerves getting the best of her as she stumbled along beside him. "Sorry," she whispered again, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

The man's hand tightened around Piya's, guiding her across the road with a protective grip. Piya's steps followed his lead, her mind swirling with a mix of fear and gratitude. Each stride felt like a small victory, her heart racing with the adrenaline of the moment.

As they reached the safety of the other side, Piya let out a shaky breath, her hand still tingling from his touch. She glanced up at him, her eyes wide with surprise and a silent thankfulness. 

"Um, t-thanks and apologies" she murmured softly, her words barely audible above the chaos of the street.

But before she could say more, he released her hand and walked away, leaving Piya standing alone on the sidewalk, her thoughts spinning like a whirlwind. 

She watched him disappear into the distance, a sense of longing stirring within her, wishing she could have held onto that fleeting moment just a little longer.

Though he had left without a word, Piya couldn't shake the feeling of his touch lingering on her skin, leaving her with a strange mix of emotions. Lost in her thoughts, she stood there for a moment, reliving the encounter in her mind.

As she walked away, a shy smile spread across Piya's face. "Thanks, Mister Grumpy," she whispered quietly, finding humor in this deadly situation that almost took her life. 

It was just a silly nickname she came up with, a light moment in the midst of everything. With a light heart, Piya continued on her way, the memory of his handsome face still fresh in her mind.

~~

LATER IN THE DAY 

Walking through the crowded corridors of her huge university, Piya eventually made it to her locker. She shut the cupboard as her heart thumped with anxiousness and panic, quickly throwing all her textbooks back where they belonged and grabbed her black bag. Her cognitive systems were only focused on getting out of the school grounds before the football team finished practicing. She was in no mood to deal with the devil's shaming session. She had yet to figure out why and what made Jade so disgusted and hateful of her that he had crossed every boundary of tormenting and degrading her.

Was this poison based just on her race and skin color, or because a brown-skinned Indian girl like her (who he perceived to be of low enough standard to not even stand parallel to him) slapped him in front of the entire college?

The chain of her self-analysis thoughts on why he hated her was broken when something hit her head hard. A perfect headshot. The impact of the force with which the paper ball was thrown in her direction was so forceful that even if the ball was made up of mere material like paper it caused her pain. She turned back to see a paper ball lying right next to her feet. Fear engulfed her senses as she uncurled the ball of paper and read the content written on it.

"To the third floor's washroom. Now. P.S. If you try to sneak away, I'll make sure you don't have those meaty legs to walk on the next time.:)"

This may have appeared to be a charming little love note, but only Piya knew the significance these two words carried for her. Her shoulders stiffened as she finished reading the note, her palms sweating as she mulled over all the twisted possibilities, or as Jade, a senior who was once a part of her friend group with Kate and Adrien, liked to call it "their lesson of the day," that he might come up with today.

Piya went to the washroom since she had no choice but to surrender in front of her bully. The third floor was one of the most remote areas on campus and an ideal hideout for predators like him to inflict misery on the weak and vulnerable, with her being one of Jade's favorite targets of all time. She passed Hunter, her bully's younger brother, who had a girl with freckles on her face pinned to the wall on her route. Amber was her name. He was putting ice-cold water inside the shy blonde girl's shirt. Amber was Hunter's favorite victim, just as Piya was for Jade.

There were even rumours spreading among the student gossip groups that Hunter was so fascinated with his pet , Amber , that he tattooed his name on her breasts and shared images of his art on his official instagram handle. She has been labelled as Hunter's whore and treated as such ever since.

" Your nipples have turned hard . Do you want Daddy to suck on them? "

He breathed out calmly, as if asking about her favorite color. His malicious, evil gaze fixed on her drenched white t-shirt, which had now turned see-through, giving his lustful eyes a perfect view of the heaven that lay beyond those layers of clothing. 

Piya wanted to help her, to raise her voice against all the bullying and hatred the two brothers, Jade and Hunter, were carrying out in the University, but then even showing a little support could get both of them punished. 

The inner turmoil to stand for justice intensified even more once she witnessed Amber begging for help, staring directly into her eyes with her red and puffed ones while she was thrashing in Hunter's suffocating hold. It was as if her tear-filled eyes were silently complaining about all the barbaric acts that this monster had done to her. 

But Piya herself was as incapable of defending as the girl who was being assaulted. Hunter's gaze fell upon Piya upon noticing that his pet's attention was fixed on someone who was not him. The mere thought of his pet paying her attention to someone who was not him was enough to boil his blood and evoke his inner demons.

"What? Have you never seen a couple in action before?" He gritted in his raspy voice, which held a hidden warning to leave the place as fast as she could before something horrendous happened. 

She shook her head with her eyes now cast down in fear and submission as she rushed to the bathroom on the secluded floor.

 "It won't be too bad as long as I listen to him," she reminded herself and counted to ten with her eyes closed to calm her panicked self. They snapped open the moment she heard Jade, her senior turned bully, entering the washroom. He strode up to her without saying anything and grabbed her chin as her eyes stared into his furious ones.

"What took you so long, Brownie?" She trembled in sheer terror as he backed off, now casually flipping a sharp blade in his large, tanned hands.

 He was leaning against the whitewashed walls of the toilet with his angry gaze pinning Piya in her place. She knew she had pissed him off when he called her 'Brownie.' This special name was reserved only for situations when he wanted to do something with her brown skin.

"I-I just went to return a book that I had borrowed from the library," she whispered, hoping for the beast to have mercy.

"You have pretty eyebrows," he said.

"W-What?" Piya inquired, all confused at the sudden compliment. She had no idea where this was going, but definitely something wasn't good.

"What if I shave them?" It was then she understood the motive of the blade in his hands. She was scared; it would have been an understatement. Do eyebrows grow again once shaved? Can the blade harm her eye? Could she end up losing one of her eyes or rather her good luck, both of them? She didn't want to find out the answers to these questions. The only solution was to distract him.

She tried to speak around the lump in her throat, her nervousness making her stutter badly. "T-That game. You had fun, right? L-Let's play it."

"What game, Brownie?" He said disinterested.

"The pick-an-imaginary-case game. L-Let's play it, please," she said timidly.

"Okay. Master is in a good mood today. Let's allow the pet to take the charge," he said, with the blade still flicking between his fingers.

"Piya! It's me, Kate, and Adrien. Who would you kiss, fuck, and kill?"

"I wouldn't do any of that. He and Kate are my only friends here in Sydney."

The jaw clench didn't go unnoticed by Piya. She knew she had to choose the kill option for her friends according to him. He hated Kate and Adrien to the core since he should be the only friend Piya had. His pets weren't supposed to make friends, especially Piya. He was sufficient for her and only him.

"Tsk-Tsk. Again, wrong answer, Brownie. I wonder how you score so much in the annual exams with a tablespoon IQ of yours."

The tablespoon reference to her intelligence made Piya want to spit on his face, but she still wanted to live.

"Come on. Let's try again. It's me, Kate, Adrien. Who would you kiss, fuck, and kill?"

He questioned again, this time leaning towards her. His body pressed against hers; she could feel the hard evidence of his arousal against her stomach, and this was enough to make her gag.

"Why do you have to drag Kate and Adrien into everything? I wouldn't do any of these sick things with them. They aren't losers like you and Hunter!"

Piya expected a punch in her face right after her outburst, but he nodded his head as if understanding everything she said. Although his body posture was utterly relaxed, his eyes conveyed something contrary. They had darkened seeing the defiance of his 'pet,' and the part where she called him a loser added more to his rage.

"Got it, baby. They are your only friends, and you would not kill them even if your master orders you to do so." He whispered while inhaling her hair.

He looked like a hungry wolf ready to pounce on a rabbit. Piya flattened her back against the bathroom wall, trying to push herself to create some distance between their heated bodies. He raised his hands, bringing the sharp blade near her perfectly arched eyebrows, only to halt midway, hearing Piya's helpless sobs. She was now kneeling, clutching his cargo-clad legs tightly, begging pathetically for mercy.

"I am sorry. I am really sorry. I shouldn't have defended my friends, master. I apologize to you." "Please sir, please, don't hurt me."

He approached the terrified girl and covered her lips with one hand. With a second, his other hand moved inside her hoodie and unhooked her bra. He moved too quickly for her to respond or even absorb what was going on with her.

"However, I'd do all three to you. First, I'm going to suck your lips till I pull them from your hideous face. Then fuck you until your body collapses, then choke you to death with my cum dripping from your tight little pussy."

He exhaled as if fantasizing about raw and hard fucking Piya, the same brown-skinned low-life Indian girl he claims to despise the most in this world.